We began preparing the wedding after 2 years of dating. I always knew how and where my wedding would be. In my case it was lake Como. The Alps is my favorite place on Earth: mountains and water together create the best background for the most important day in your life. If it’s possible to capture this atmosphere with words – these words would be "magic", "elegance", "splendor"... and "love".

Choosing the date, we were guided by the magic "velvet season" (Russian term for one of the most favorable period for rest) in Italy and by astrological considerations, there are few favorable days in a leap year. So, our day forever will be the 2 of September.

Like many brides, I dreamed about wedding ceremony at Villa Balbianello. This is the most spectacular and popular wedding location on the lake, predictably, was already booked for this date 1 year before. But my wedding planner Victoria found an alternative . It was Villa Monastero , in the beautiful town Varenna on the opposite lakeshore. Then Victoria was able to organize a photo shooting at Villa Balbianello , so I can say that my wedding was where I really wanted. I need to mention my wedding planner’s time management competence. My wedding day was completely planed .All guest enjoyed every location and every moment without any stress or delay.

How did I find Victoria? I made my choice quickly. I didn’t consider any Moscow agency because of expensive services abroad, and I was choosing among international ones. I needed someone who spoke Russian and had had an experience in wedding organization on lake Como. This can be universal advice for those who are planning a wedding abroad. It’s better to hire Russian wedding planners who work and live in the country where your wedding will be.

I wrote to several agencies, and Victoria (the Agency WeddItaly) was the first to answer me with all details. I realized immediately that we thought in the same way. We were always in touch discussing the concept, locations and other details. And in the end we got the perfect plan for wedding.

Our project was to use as many location as we could to show all the beauties of this territory. We chose 3 locations: photo shooting at Villa balbianello, ceremony (and another photo session ) at Villa Monastero and finally a gala dinner in the panoramic restaurant in Valle d'Intelvi (Argegno town).

All our movements were not tiring at all for our 6 guests, all the time we were all together. There are a lot of advantages of making your wedding day only with close friends and parents. We spent two hours in each Villa, walking around and taking pictures. All movements were organized by a shuttle boat.

One of the important element in wedding plot is a “bride’s morning”. The main day was completely full of events, and we toke a day before for this exciting moment. Wedding photo shooting was not a new thing for me. The choice of photographer, locations, outfits were particularly important. I didn't want reportage photography or fine art style or other fashionable things. I called my old friend Maria Orlova: we worked together, we liked ideas and works of each other. And we didn’t choose a classic wedding photo session, we decided to make a fashion photo shooting.

So, my “bride’s Morning” began on a stunning historic Villa Palazzo Salis. My boudoir set (rose quartz as the main wedding color) was sewed by a designer Inna Shenkao. Boudoir filming continued with meeting bridegroom in the mountains. I like this version of the wedding story - starting day together, and not meeting already at the altar.

The ceremony was official with on-site registry (By the way, we were the first couple married officially at Villa Monastero). That was pleasant surprise: I thought that official registration could be only in the municipality. However, it depends on possibilities of wedding agency that prepares all documents without presence of couple and also on-site registry.

The concept of my wedding was determined by three things: classic, elegance and intimacy. Landscape of Italy, country of the Renaissance and the most picturesque nature made our wedding theme “Art called love” . We used Italian landscapes in our paper invitations and on the wedding cake.